NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Mired in the midst of a five-game losing streak, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi looked prime to get off the schneid, leading 2-1 with two outs in the eighth, but Stephen F. Austin rallied to score twice in the inning and steal a 3-2 win in the series opener.
Islander hurler Chris Falwell (1-2) was dominant on the hill. The southpaw went 7 2/3 innings and had surrendered just four hits before a 2-out triple and single in front of the plate chased the starter in the eighth. Falwell ended his outing with six strikeouts on the night, but was saddled with the loss as SFA (13-15, 3-7) plated both those runs.
The Lumberjacks loaded the bases as reliever Garrett Harris issued a walk to the first man he faced. Then, Kyle Thornell took a pitch off his elbow to force in a run. Two pitches later, a wild pitch allowed SFA to take its first lead of the night at 3-2. Tyler Starks would come on in the ninth and shut the door on the Islanders (9-15, 2-5) for the series-opening victory.
"We thought both teams would pitch it well tonight," said head coach Scott Malone. "Friday nights in the league are going to be good. Obviously, they came in with the touted offense and I felt like we held them down. Chris pitched outstanding, but it just got to a point in the late innings where one team was going to get the big hit.
"We had our chance and then two outs, nobody on in the eighth and Nick Ramos triples," continued Malone. "I thought that won the game for them. You can forget the hit-by-pitch, forget the wild pitch, that triple off the wall changed the momentum."
The Islanders controlled most of the game, although they could never extend the lead in a Friday night pitcher's duel. For SFA, Erik Nouis matched Falwell pitch for pitch, going seven innings in his start while allowing only two runs. Nouis did not play in the decision, but struck out five and limited the Islanders to just three hits.
A&M-Corpus Christi struck for the games first run in the second inning and Justin Perales laced a single off the first-base bag to plate Brian Deaver. An inning later, the 'Jacks answered with a run on two hits. The 1-1 deadlock held until the sixth when Casey Thomas scored on a wild pitch as the Islanders retook the lead without the benefit of a hit.
Much like the past week, the Islanders seemed to fall victim to the big breaks in the game. Following Ramos' triple in the eighth, the Blue and Green was at the cusp of getting out of the inning as Falwell induced a chopper inside the home plate circle, but Conner Fikes reached as catcher Scott Balfantz couldn't find the ball off the bat.
"There's five or six of us that aren't winning the way we want," said Malone. "For all the teams at the bottom right now, you're feeling suffocated and you're trying to find wins but they're hard to come by. When the game is going against you and that's the way it feels right now, all the little things are going the other way, it can get frustrating. But, we're just seven games into a 30-game conference season and they all count equally."
SATURDAY BOUNCE BACK
The Islanders will take another shot at ending the now six-game slide Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Devin Skapura is slated to start for the Islanders while Jarred Greene will get the ball for SFA.
